Singapore

As I was going through my photos, I was tempted to do just one more post about Singapore. This is a random bunch of pictures from different parts of the city.

The Singapore River

The river has always been very important to this island country – it was through this waterway that Singapore’s founder Sir Stamford Raffles sailed in from the sea. Apparently, the river was absolutely filthy until the 70s, after which a massive clean up project was undertaken, and the rest is history. The riverside, along with the Marina Bay artificially formed at the mouth of the river by land reclamation, is home to some of Singapore’s most iconic sights.

A ‘bumboat’ on the Singapore River

The stunning Fullerton Hotel at night. It used to be Singapore’s General Post Office earlier!

Marina Bay Sands and the Merlion

Little India

Singaporean Indians (a huge percentage are Tamils) form one of Singapore’s largest ethnic communities, and Tamil is one of the country’s official languages. Little India is full of Indian shops and restaurants.

A multicolored Chinese villa in Little India

One of its occupants is a restaurant called Andhra Curry!

The Abdul Gafoor Mosque built by Muslims who came to Singapore from South India

Chinatown

Raffles divided Singapore into portions and sort of segregated the areas by community. Chinatown, was the neighborhood that the ethnic Chinese were allotted.

While in Singapore, I stayed in the incredibly vibrant Kampong Glam neighborhood. It includes a bunch of very famous streets like Haji Lane, Bali Lane, Bussorah Street, Arab Street, Kandahar Street etc. Kampong Glam was traditionally the area where the island’s Malay and Arab Muslims lived, and even the Sultan of Johore had his residence there. The place just overflows with color and creativity. It has a very energetic and modern vibe, but you still know you’re in a place with a history. It was easily my favourite part of the city, and I thoroughly enjoyed walking around taking pictures. Take a look! (Hover over the images to see which street I shot them on)

My 2015 began with a week in Singapore. I’m still sorting out the photos I took there, but the pictures I shared on my Instagram kind of sum up my trip. So I thought I’d start by sharing some of them here – all taken from my phone.

This is Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore. And behind him, the city he created. This is at the Raffles Landing Site by the Singapore river, the place where he arrived when he first came to Singapore.

This is the Singapore river, with the Cavenagh bridge running across it. That beauty in the background is the historic Fullerton Hotel. It used to be Singapore’s General Post Office!

A bunch of colorful tropical fruit juices in a market. I was outdoors all the time and walking a lot, so I was always ready for something sweet and hydrating.

Check out this Honey Dew Sago. It has slices of honeydew melon with sweet cold coconut milk and colorful sabu dana on top. You can get the same thing with other tropical fruits too. It’s pretty filling, so I had it for lunch one day. I *think* this is vegan and it’s very very yummy.

This frothy milky tea is called teh tarik in Singapore

Roti Prata – a Singaporean Indian dish. Sort of like the Kerala parathas we get here in India. SO DELICIOUS!

Ice Blended Milk Tea. After the first sip, I thought EWW. After the second sip I was like HMMMM. And after the third, YUM! This was at a cute little place in Chinatown called Nanyang Old Coffee.

Beautiful restored houses on Emerald Hill Road. If you’ve been to Singapore, you’ve probably shopped at Orchard Road. This lane is just off Orchard Road – and it’s another world altogether.

The beautiful Abdul Gafoor Mosque in Little India:

The beautiful architecture of the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum in Chinatown

Chinatown has many calligraphers who’ll paint your name, dry it and frame it for you in just 5 minutes. It’s fun!

The Singapore Flyer is SO. MUCH. FUN. Check out the famous Marina Bay Sands hotel on the left, seen from the top of the flyer.